| Is |
Athlete Football player Association football player |
| From | United States of America |
| Type | Sports |
| Gender | male |
| Birth | 24 March 1995, Woodland Hills, United States of America |
| Age: | 25 years |
| Star sign | Aries |
Steven Robert “Steve” Burstyn (born March 24, 1995) is an American-Filipino-Polish soccer player.
Soccer career
Youth career & college
Burstyn attended Arcadia High School in Arcadia, California between 2009–2013. During his first two years at Arcadia, he played for the freshman and JV team, respectively. At the beginning of junior year, Steve was named captain of the varsity squad. His only year of varsity soccer ended in a 3–7–1 record.
To further his career, Steve opted out of playing his senior year of high school soccer to play for U.S. Soccer Development Academy (USSDA) Nomads SC in San Diego, California. The U.S. Soccer Federation has regulations prohibiting participation in both high school and academy soccer. The Arcadia alum made his U.S. Soccer Development Academy debut against Strikers FC on January 19, 2013 at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, California.
After a brief spell with Nomads SC, the Arcadia alum decided to take a gap year and joined USSDA Strikers FC located in Irvine, California.
Steve was recruited by NCAA Division 2 & NCAA Division 3 colleges such as Division 2 powerhouse University of Charleston and Division 3 colleges like Rhodes College & Regis College. Ultimately, he attended the University of California – Berkeley to pursue his academic endeavors and attempt to walk-on to the NCAA Division 1 team. While he did train with the NCAA team during off-season, Burstyn spent his playing career at Cal playing for the university’s club team in the WCSA. In his freshman year, he helped contribute to the squad’s 2014 NIRSA National Championship tournament title.
Philippine National Team
In 2014, the American bred player decided to ply his trade abroad in his mother’s homeland: the Philippines. There he was called into the U23 Philippine National Team in preparation for the 2014 Hassanal Bolkiah Trophy in Brunei. Throughout training camp he wore #8. Due to paperwork issues, Burstyn would eventually wind up missing the 2014 Hassanal Bolkiah Trophy, 2016 AFC U23 Championship Qualifiers, and the 2015 SEA Games.
In 2016, Burstyn was called into the Philippine National Team (the Azkals) training camp while the team was preparing to face Perth Glory FC of the A-League. However, due to the same paperwork issues that arose in 2014, he did not participate in the game.
Sweden
After finishing his junior year at UC Berkeley, in the summer of 2017, Steven received the opportunity to play for Division 4 side Scandinavia FC, Örebro in Örebro, Sweden. The American export helped the team clinch two trophies: the Division 4 title and the Eksjöhuscuppher as well as earn promotion to Division 3. During the Eksjöhuscuppher final, Burstyn sealed away a penalty kick that led to the win over Vretstorps IF.
In the spring of 2018, Steven signed with Division 4 outfit Kungsörs BK in Kungsör, Sweden after contract negotiations fell through with Division 2 side Örebro Syrianska IF. In his second year in Sweden, Steve contributed to one of Kungsörs BK’s most prolific seasons. The club managed to win 19 of 22 games, obtain a +64 goal differential, and clinch the division title to gain promotion to Division 3.
United States
After receiving offers in Iceland’s Division 3 and Spain’s Tercera Division, Burstyn signed with East Bay Stompers in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) for the 2019 season. Shortly after joining the Stompers, Burstyn played preseason with SF City FC in the USL League 2 (USL2).